2014 INSYSME meeting, Kassel

INSYSME met on 18 and 19 September 2014 in Kassel, Germany. The meeting was hosted by the Institute of Structural Engineering, part of the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Kassel. Earlier this year, TBE also attended a two-day meeting held in April 2014 in Coimbra, Portugal.

INSYSME, which stands for “INnovative SYStems for earthquake resistant Masonry Enclosures in reinforced concrete framed buildings”, involves cooperation between national associations, research institutes and companies from seven European countries. Participants also include Tiles & Bricks Europe (TBE) members from Italy, Germany and Portugal. TBE will play an active role in the dissemination of the results of the project.

The project aims at developing innovative systems for masonry enclosures. These would be used for façades, envelopes and internal partitions of reinforced concrete framed buildings, to derive sound concepts for their analysis and to develop reliable, simple and efficient methods for their design in the everyday engineering practice. The research will offer innovative solutions to scientific and technological problems which have a broad-spectrum impact. The involvement of SME associations in the project, with the aid of all partners, will ensure that the needs of large communities of SMEs are met.

The INSYSME project, selected for EU funding, was officially launched in October 2013 with a kick-off meeting that took place at the University of Padua, Italy.

For more information, visit the INSYSME website at www.insysme.eu. 

Views on resource efficiency and the circular economy package

On 2 July 2014, the European Commission published its Communication on resource efficiency,Towards a circular economy: a zero waste programme for Europe. In this context, the European Ceramic Industry Association Cerame-Unie would like to present its views on the circular economy package.

In our paper, we stress that resource efficiency requires a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach that takes into account all stages of the product, including its durability, lifespan and reduction of resource consumption over the use phase. The paper also highlights that the social and economic aspects of sustainability should always be considered in EU legislation.

To reach a circular economy in Europe, adequate access to raw materials as well as separation and processing of waste and a well-functioning market for secondary raw materials are needed. At the end of the paper, some best practice examples taking place in the ceramic industry are presented.

Download in PDF

TBE welcomes new President Yiannis Maliouris

On the occasion of the 2014 TBE Congress in Naples, and as already foreseen, Yiannis Maliouris, CEO of B. Maliouris S.A., took over from Heimo Scheuch as TBE President. After six years as President, Dr Scheuch, CEO of Wienerberger AG, will stay on as TBE Vice-President.

Mr Maliouris and Dr Scheuch restated the importance of TBE as a representative body of the whole European bricks and roof tiles industry and welcomed the opportunity to hold the 2014 TBE meetings together with those of the Italian national association ANDIL.

Moreover, they reaffirmed that TBE in its highly efficient structure shall continue its efforts to work together with the European institutions in order to further develop the industry, its presence in Europe and assist in facing the challenges within the European legal framework.

Clay bricks and roof tiles as the preferred construction materials for residential construction in Europe provide not only for energy efficient and long lasting construction but also ensure affordable housing all over Europe!

2014 TBE Congress, Naples

The 62nd TBE Congress took place in Naples on 19-20 June 2014, kindly hosted by the Italian brick and tile association ANDIL, which organised their annual meetings on the same occasion. The TBE and ANDIL events drew over 170 CEOs and executives from the bricks and roof tiles industry from across Europe. The annual meetings fall at an important juncture as Italy will be assuming the rotating EU Presidency from 1 July 2014.

On 19 June participants attended the TBE Roof Tiles Product Group, TBE Masonry Product Group and the TBE Environmental & Technical Working Group. These meetings provided updates on current TBE activities in the fields of standardisation, climate and energy, Construction Products Regulation, INSYSME project and sustainable construction. The meetings also provided a platform for experts to share their experiences at national level thus further informing TBE actions at EU level.

Following the TBE Executive Committee, members attended a gala dinner at Naples’ Yacht Club Nautico Savoia. A view of the infamous Mount Vesuvius and the harbour of Naples accompanied the delicious meal.

The TBE General Assembly, held on 20 June, served as an occasion to mark the achievements of 2013-2014 and identify upcoming challenges.

Particularly noteworthy is TBE’s development of Product Category Rules (PCR) for clay bricks, blocks, roof tiles and pavers. At EU level, climate and energy dossiers such as the Environmental and Energy State Aid Guidelines and the Carbon Leakage list 2015-2019 ensured the continued competitiveness of the European industry.

Upcoming challenges for the bricks and roof tiles industry include the implementation of the PCR at CEN level (European Committee for Standardization). TBE will also be working to further the European Commission’s aims outlined in its Communication on Resource Efficiency Opportunities in the Building Sector.

The General Assembly was also an opportunity to celebrate the leadership of TBE’s outgoing President and CEO of Wienerberger AG, Heimo Scheuch. Yiannis Maliouris, the former TBE Vice-President and CEO of B. Maliouris S.A., will gladly take over the task of representing TBE as President.

The rest of the day was devoted to a joint TBE-ANDIL public debate on the topic Paving the way for sustainable growth in Europe. TBE and ANDIL Presidents debated the role of the construction sector in Europe, particularly in the context of the Italian Presidency of the EU, with guest speakers from the European Commission’s DG Enterprise and Industry, the Italian Ministry for Economic Development, the Italian Investment Fund, Federcostruzioni and Confindustria. Political measures to re-launch the construction sector – such as a European plan promoting social housing or support for the rehabilitation of the existing building stock through renovation and rebuilding when appropriate – were discussed and agreed to be crucial for the economic recovery of Italy and the EU.

Thanks to TBE members, ANDIL and the technical partners, the 2014 TBE Congress was a great success and will not soon be forgotten.

Delegated acts for CPR Annexes III and V published in Official Journal

The delegated acts to modify the annex III and annex V of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) were published in the Official Journal of the EU in late May 2014.

The purpose of the annex III of the CPR is to give more flexibility to the manufacturers of construction products when drawing up a Declaration of Performance (DoP). Please see below a summary of the delegated act amending the annex III:

• The text of the model is shorter and in the DoP manufacturers may include the reference to the website where the DoP is available;
• It provides additional instructions for drawing up a DoP;
• The former point 2 of the annex III was deleted (“type, batch or serial number or any other element allowing identification of the construction product as required pursuant to art. 11(4)”;
• When a manufacturer draws up a DoP, they shall reproduce the texts and the headlines of the model, which are not indicated between brackets;
• The manufacturer may use a different layout than in the model;
• The points of the model can be combined and thus presented together. They can also be presented in a different order;
• If some points are not relevant for the product, they can be omitted;
• The manufacturer may present the points without numbering them.

In short, the delegated act to modify the annex V clarifies the description of the Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance (AVCP) tasks.

EC publishes draft carbon leakage list

On 5 May 2014 the European Commission sent its draft proposal for a 2015-2019 carbon leakage list to the EU Climate Change Committee. The draft proposal includes a list of sectors and sub-sectors which are deemed to be exposed to a significant risk of carbon leakage.

The draft list also includes the tile and brick sector, as a result of an updated qualitative assessment. According to the revised ETS Directive, the preliminary free allocation for installations from carbon leakage sectors will remain at 100% of the benchmark level for the whole 2015-2019 period, while for sectors that are not in the carbon leakage list it will start at 65.71% of the benchmark level in 2015 and be reduced to 37.14% in 2019. In both cases, the cross-sectoral correction factor will be applied to calculate the final free allocation.

The vote by the Climate Change Committee is foreseen before the summer break. After that approval, the draft Decision will undergo three months' scrutiny by the European Parliament and the Council with a view to its adoption by the Commission before the end of this year.

All relevant information is available on the EC website. 

EC adopts new Environmental and Energy State Aid Guidelines

On 9 April 2014, the European Commission adopted the new Environmental and Energy State Aid Guidelines (EEAG) for the period up to 2020. The guidelines promote a gradual move to market-based support for renewable energy in order to address the market distortions related to subsidies granted to renewable energy sources (RES).

Furthermore, the EEAG allow reducing the burden of RES charges for a list of energy-intensive sectors identified on the basis of their trade and electro intensity. These provisions are essential for the competitiveness of the industry as RES charges represent an increasing proportion of the energy bill.

The list of eligible sectors includes the clay tile and brick industry. It also includes the following ceramic sub-sectors: wall & floor tiles, refractories, sanitaryware, clay pipes and ceramic insulators. Highly electro-intensive companies from other sectors can also be eligible.

The full text of the new EEAG is available here.

The European Ceramic Industry Association Cerame-Unie, of which TBE is a full member, replied to the public consultation on the EEAG in February 2014. CU's reply can be downloaded in PDF here.

TBE PCR for clay construction products

Thanks to the technical input of the members and the support of an external consultant, TBE has developed the Product Category Rules (PCR) for clay bricks, blocks, roof tiles and pavers. These PCR establish a set of specific rules and guidelines for reporting the environmental performance of clay construction products in the form of an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).

EPDs are a standardised way to communicate the environmental impact of a product on the basis of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. EPDs can be used for different purposes. For instance, designers are often requesting EPDs of construction products to be used as input for assessing the environmental performance of buildings.

In 2012, TBE identified the lack of harmonised PCR for the development of EPDs for clay construction products. With a common PCR, EPDs developed at national and/or European level will be based on the same guidelines and similar assumptions. The TBE PCR for clay construction products is based on the European horizontal harmonised standard EN 15804, which was developed in CEN/TC 350 “Sustainability of construction works”.

In addition to the TBE PCR, a guidance document summarising the basic principles of the PCR has been developed. It also provides guidelines about the input and output data that need to be collected before conducting the LCA study. 

Ceramic Industry Manifesto 2014-2019

On the occasion of the European elections, Cerame-Unie published its Manifesto for the 2014-2019 Parliamentary mandate. To read the Manifesto in French, German, Dutch, Spanish or Italian, please click here. 

Manufacturing and SME-driven sectors like ceramics are the backbone of the European economy and key drivers of growth and jobs. The recent crisis has underlined the importance of the manufacturing economy and has confirmed that a strong industrial base is of key importance for Europe’s recovery.

EU institutions and national governments should therefore ensure a supportive and predictable policy environment to facilitate the EU’s reindustrialisation. This can only be achieved if industrial competitiveness is prioritised across all policy areas and tangible measures are implemented to achieve the goal of increasing industry’s share of GDP to 20% by 2020.

The European elections present a crucial opportunity to reassess and improve Europe’s regulatory framework. Having seen the effect of EU legislation on the ceramic industry and on European citizens, we offer practical recommendations to policymakers to be carried forward into the next mandate. 

MEPs are welcome to join the European Parliament Ceramics Forum. Find out more on the EPCF website. 

Our policy recommendations

CLIMATE & ENERGY

1. Assess EU climate objectives in light of international negotiations

2. Retain and improve measures on carbon leakage beyond 2020 under the EU ETS

3. Restore the global competitiveness of EU energy prices

ENVIRONMENT & CONSTRUCTION

4. Integrate the three pillars of sustainability into EU legislation

5. Promote lifecycle thinking when addressing resource efficiency

6. Avoid the duplication of EU legislation and reduce administrative burdens

RESEARCH & ACCESS TO FINANCE

7. Support access to finance and investments in Research & Innovation

TRADE & INTERNAL MARKET

8. Foster market access for European companies in third countries

9. Ensure fair competition at international level

10. Strengthen market surveillance to properly protect and inform consumers

2030 Climate & Energy Framework, Industrial Renaissance and energy prices

On 22 January 2014 the European Commission presented three communications on the 2030 climate & energy framework, industrial renaissance and energy prices. The latter was accompanied by a report on energy prices and costs for some energy-intensive sectors, including the ceramic sectors of bricks & roof tiles and wall & floor tiles.

USEFUL EUROPEAN COMMISSION LINKS AND DOCUMENTS

• Press release on 2030 climate & energy framework
• Background on 2030 Energy Strategy
• Communication: 2030 climate & energy framework
• Communication: For a European Industrial Renaissance
• Communication: Energy prices
• All documentation related to 2030 climate & energy framework